Historical Figure
Otto Frank
1889–1980
Father of Anne Frank (1889–1980)
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Biography
Otto Heinrich Frank was a German businessman, and the father of Anne Frank. He edited and published the first edition of her diary in 1947 and advised on its later theatrical and cinematic adaptations. In the 1950s and the 1960s, he established European charities in his daughter's name and founded the trust which preserved his family's wartime hiding place, the Anne Frank House, in Amsterdam.
Timeline
The story of Otto Frank, told in moments.
Served in the German Army during World War I. Reached the rank of lieutenant. He fought at the Somme and was decorated for bravery.
Went into hiding with his family in a secret annex above his Amsterdam business. Eight people lived in the concealed rooms for two years. His daughter Anne kept a diary.
Liberated from Auschwitz in January. He learned his wife Edith had died there. In July, he confirmed that both daughters, Margot and Anne, had died at Bergen-Belsen.
Published Anne's diary as Het Achterhuis. He edited it from two versions Anne had written. The book was eventually translated into more than 70 languages.
Artifacts (15)
I don't understand the details of Dirac at all.
dizzying path between genius and madness is awful." In another letter concerning the Compton effect he wrote, "I don't understand the details of Dirac at all." Dirac was known among his colleagues for...
I have an equation. Do you have one too?
" Another story told of Dirac is that when he first met the young Richard Feynman at a conference, he said after a long silence, "I have an equation. Do you have one too?" After he presented a...
Physical laws should have mathematical beauty.
e visiting Moscow State University in 1956, Dirac was asked to summarize his philosophy of physics. He wrote on the blackboard "Physical laws should have mathematical beauty." As is traditional with...
I feel much freer now, and I am my own man.
hment. Dirac had a strained relationship with his father, so much so that after his father's death, Dirac wrote, "I feel much freer now, and I am my own man." Charles forced his children to speak to...
I was taught at school never to start a sentence without knowing the end of it.
hr complained that he did not know how to finish a sentence in a scientific article he was writing, Dirac replied, "I was taught at school never to start a sentence without knowing the end of it." He...
That was not a question, it was a comment.
ard". After a long silence, the moderator asked Dirac if he wanted to answer the question, to which Dirac replied: "That was not a question, it was a comment." Dirac was also noted for his personal...
Allow me to present Wigner's sister, who is now my wife.
s are nice?'" Margit Dirac told both George Gamow and Anton Capri in the 1960s that her husband had said to a house visitor, "Allow me to present Wigner's sister, who is now my wife." Another story...
I don't understand the equation on the top-right-hand corner of the blackboard
you have one too?" After he presented a lecture at a conference, one colleague raised his hand and said: "I don't understand the equation on the top-right-hand corner of the blackboard". After a long...
ability of the highest order in mathematical physics
rac was recognised for being mathematically gifted, as during his time in university, academics had affirmed that Dirac had an "ability of the highest order in mathematical physics", with Ebenezer...
The interpretation of quantum mechanics has been dealt with by many authors, and...
issues of interpretation in quantum theory. In fact, in a paper published in a book in his honour, he wrote: "The interpretation of quantum mechanics has been dealt with by many authors, and I do not...
Dirac was undoubtedly one of the greatest physicists of this or any century ... ...
nger tied for eighth in a Physics World poll of the greatest physicists of all time. In 1987, Abdus Salam declared that "Dirac was undoubtedly one of the greatest physicists of this or any century ......
Dirac has done more than anyone this century, with the exception of Einstein, to...
decisive influence, in so short a time, on the course of physics in this century." In 1995, Stephen Hawking stated that "Dirac has done more than anyone this century, with the exception of Einstein,...
I am toiling over Dirac. This balancing on the dizzying path between genius and ...
d by his friends and colleagues as unusual in character. In a 1926 letter to Paul Ehrenfest, Albert Einstein wrote of a Dirac paper, "I am toiling over Dirac. This balancing on the dizzying path...
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